baybei

I'd buy this, but I don't have enough action in my life to make owning an action camera worthwhile. I mean, sitting for hours in front of a computer looking for sites to visit does not an action flick make!

CuzzinMerl

Decent camera. Decent video quality. Lot of mounting options, but I still had to MacGuyver a mount for my bike. I wish there was a way to turn off the audio input. Be careful of the laser pointer. It's easy to turn on without being aware of it and you'll go around blinding everybody.

rantng

I've been debating if I want to "be a hero" and get a GoPro, but after checking out a bunch of Swann Freestyle videos on YouTube, I decided to save some money and get the Swann. I doubt I'd use the GoPro enough to justify the cost, I probably won't even use the Swann that much, but at least this way I can satisfy the tech junkie in me and not break the bank.

bear8699

A friend and I both bought these after finding bunches of 'good' video on YouTube. They seem pretty good - I've not been anywhere to use mine. He has - and is having a problem (not sure if it is the device or ? yet). Swann seems to be TERRIBLE at support (a big company, surveillance, etc) and for no reason. I did find a good review out of the UK (a bit old now - as is this camera) that put it on par with the GoPro and 'miles ahead' on cost and accessories. Made us feel a bit better - I still need to figure out that file thing. It apparently loops too (dash cam). I just want to kill the mic completely (I think I'll cover it with a dab of silicone - soft and sound absorbent I think). I'm okay with it so far - but need more support :-)
.

whatsamattaU

Okay, the key point is although this might be the first sale of 2013 for this, this is the cheapest woot has sold this I believe by $20, at $99.99. There are too many sales to list all of them, and I already got in trouble in the past re: price comparisons on this, so I'll just give the last few woots and my previous links:

davidkillion

Obviously, the low-price and included LCD screen make this an incredible value. Unfortunately, I found this camera to be a big disappointment. First of all, the mount is different than the GoPro, so don't expect to use existing locations. Secondly, vibrations on this camera were not friendly (location: rear wing of a Skip Barber Formula Race Car) - there was a lot of noise on the video.

We travel long distances and spend lots of money for our passions. We have to hope that the cameras will capture our adventures, and in this case, all the video captured was not usable. I'm just glad I brought my old GoPro along as well.

Maybe more time with the camera would have resulted in better video; but I will never know because I am going to give it to my son so he can record his drumming.

weister42

davidkillion wrote:Obviously, the low-price and included LCD screen make this an incredible value. Unfortunately, I found this camera to be a big disappointment. First of all, the mount is different than the GoPro, so don't expect to use existing locations. Secondly, vibrations on this camera were not friendly (location: rear wing of a Skip Barber Formula Race Car) - there was a lot of noise on the video.

We travel long distances and spend lots of money for our passions. We have to hope that the cameras will capture our adventures, and in this case, all the video captured was not usable. I'm just glad I brought my old GoPro along as well.

Maybe more time with the camera would have resulted in better video; but I will never know because I am going to give it to my son so he can record his drumming.

Regarding the two issues that you mentioned... I don't have a GoPro or any existing mounting hardware, and is the noise from the vibration caused by the camera bouncing within the waterproof case or is the vibration so harsh/loud that it's overloading the built-in microphone?

sdutango

Mebake2

rantng wrote:I've been debating if I want to "be a hero" and get a GoPro, but after checking out a bunch of Swann Freestyle videos on YouTube, I decided to save some money and get the Swann. I doubt I'd use the GoPro enough to justify the cost, I probably won't even use the Swann that much, but at least this way I can satisfy the tech junkie in me and not break the bank.

good choice, I bought the gopro hero earlier this year, now I wish I would have waited, could've saved me a bundle...the basic hero doesn't come with remote, is upgradable to one, but I have yet to figure out how to install the firmware for it, this one is a third of the price of the other one, and I'm hoping it'll be easier to use

Mebake2

even though I have a gopro hero, I decdided to give this one a shot. for the gopro I had to shell out an additional $80 for the remote (with no lcd) after the original $199 purchase and have yet to figure out how to install and up date the firmware. I'm hoping this one will be easier to use, it's going to be mounted stationary for horse training recording, so I shouldn't have to worry about vibration too much and I definitely need a remote for it.

DocDavid

Piece of crap camera.. My wife bought me one of these a while back.. The darn thing has noise from the camera in the audio.. REALY BAD.. in fact according to all the reviews i've read.. its common in the model.. what a pile of crap.

gantt

DocDavid wrote:Piece of crap camera.. My wife bought me one of these a while back.. The darn thing has noise from the camera in the audio.. REALY BAD.. in fact according to all the reviews i've read.. its common in the model.. what a pile of crap.

Unless you're going all MTV with your audio track (like the video above) and don't give a pile of crap about the in-camera audio. I suspect nobody wants to listen to the audio from surfing, shooting or skydiving, no matter how high the quality.

sgrinavi

davidkillion wrote:Obviously, the low-price and included LCD screen make this an incredible value. Unfortunately, I found this camera to be a big disappointment. First of all, the mount is different than the GoPro, so don't expect to use existing locations. Secondly, vibrations on this camera were not friendly (location: rear wing of a Skip Barber Formula Race Car) - there was a lot of noise on the video.

I'm able to share some of my Hero2 mounting componets, just not the actual camera mount. I do have to agree with you on the vibration (rear mounted on C6). Same mount & location on the Hero resulted in smooth video, this one shakes.

weister42 wrote:Regarding the two issues that you mentioned... I don't have a GoPro or any existing mounting hardware, and is the noise from the vibration caused by the camera bouncing within the waterproof case or is the vibration so harsh/loud that it's overloading the built-in microphone?

I took it out of the case and mounted it directly to the camera - lots of vibration

brinks90 wrote:i think that in order to be considered an "action" camera it needs to be 3D.

I think it just needs to be waterproof and small to be considered an action cam.

gantt wrote:Unless you're going all MTV with your audio track (like the video above) and don't give a pile of crap about the in-camera audio. I suspect nobody wants to listen to the audio from surfing, shooting or skydiving, no matter how high the quality.

You want to hear the audio for motorsports and users may want to comment as they skateboard or mountain bike.

spgriffin4

Bought this last May for a lot more money. My kids have mounts on their helmets for skiing and snowboarding, as do I.

But what I use it a lot more for is taking pictures on industrial sites and making instructional pamphlets and videos in the oil and gas industry. I have one of the mounts on a hardhat, and I have some mounts on my rescue helmets as well. It makes for really handy pictures when you are trying to put together a presentation.

The pictures are a bit wider than I expected, but not too bad. The noise within the case can be annoying, but I just put sound tracks over them. Most of the time I am making verbal notes to describe what I am seeing anyway.

Great price for the camera and all of the accessories. It's true that it doesn't fit on the GoPro slide on mounts, but you can just order some from Swann.

We also tied it inline with some bait in the harbor to see what was living beneath us down in Malta and Cyprus, those were some fun videos.

gantt

sgrinavi wrote:You want to hear the audio for motorsports and users may want to comment as they skateboard or mountain bike.

It was interesting watching a video from a dashcam application. The audio noise seemed to be present only when the vehicle was in motion. Could be sensitivity to those particular vibrations, audio level distortion, or even RFI from the vehicle.

OutbackJon

richdom wrote:I gather that the GoPro wont fit on the slide on mounts.

Will the GoPro fit in the Swann waterproof case?

No, they don't interchange cases.

I have a Swann that I bought a while ago. I've mostly used it on my motorcycle, and as such didn't expect the audio to be clear due to wind noise.

Here's a video I shot to compare wind noise. This is with the camera out of the waterproof case, with tape over the microphone and without tape: Microphone test

This is some video I shot on a couple of nice roads: Columbus Day weekendAt about 2:45 the vies switches from recording at 720p to 1080p, so you can see the difference in the wide angles at the two resolutions. (Entire video was converted to 720p for upload, though)

NOTE: Be sure to set Youtube to show them in 720p, so you can actually see what the video looks like.

As to mounting, if the plethora of included mounts don't satisfy your needs, there are dozens of options available. Both the camera and the case use a standard tripod screw mount. I have 4 handlebar mounts on my motorcycle (on various frame points) to put the camera in different positions.

beokabatukaba

I'm an amateur skier from Minnesota. I bought this during its last sale on Woot to use on a trip I take to Utah every year. I got back from that trip just a couple of days ago and my verdict is that the camera is a great buy for someone who isn't interested in making super high quality/professional video. This camera's main flaws are its white balance/low light issues and lack of a power button on the remote. At least in snowy landscapes, it doesn't always get the best perception on the snow if the weather isn't just right. However, I'm still satisfied with its performance elsewhere. The audio is definitely poor quality, but there's not much to hear anyway in a lot of 'action' type scenarios. You'll get roughly twice the performance for 4x the price with a GoPro Hero Black edition, making this a much bigger bang for your buck. I would say its performance is comparable to somewhere between the Hero 1 and Hero 2/Hero 3 white version.
I made a video of a jump in my backyard recently that displays its performance in many different scenarios: in the case, out of the case, 1080 30fps, 720 30fps, 720 60fps, low light, sunny, timelapse, etc. Check it out if you want a decent idea of how well it performs.

dave17

rantng wrote:I've been debating if I want to "be a hero" and get a GoPro, but after checking out a bunch of Swann Freestyle videos on YouTube, I decided to save some money and get the Swann. I doubt I'd use the GoPro enough to justify the cost, I probably won't even use the Swann that much, but at least this way I can satisfy the tech junkie in me and not break the bank.

Speaking of Go Pro,Anyone considering their products should do a search on "Go Pro DMCA".A few weeks ago they had a review taken down under a false DMCA complaint because it wasn't favorable enough.They still haven't admitted they were in the wrong or apologized.Evil.If this Swann doesn't fit your needs you might look further.There are a lot of quality action cams now.

hdtvcamera

I own 2 GoPros The first one I purchased was a dud. The recorded image had a yellow tint with 2 dark lines halfway through the picture. It's an imperfect world. GoPro put me through the paces of re-updating the firmware. They ended up replacing the camera after I sent in a side by side comparison showing the anomalies. The replacement camera was refurbished and required a very hard button push to navigate the menu. I kept it and regret it.
The point to my sad story is defects exist in products like this no matter who makes them.

radi0j0hn

beokabatukaba wrote:I'm an amateur skier from Minnesota. I bought this during its last sale on Woot to use on a trip I take to Utah every year. I got back from that trip just a couple of days ago and my verdict is that the camera is a great buy for someone who isn't interested in making super high quality/professional video. This camera's main flaws are its white balance/low light issues and lack of a power button on the remote. At least in snowy landscapes, it doesn't always get the best perception on the snow if the weather isn't just right. However, I'm still satisfied with its performance elsewhere. The audio is definitely poor quality, but there's not much to hear anyway in a lot of 'action' type scenarios. You'll get roughly twice the performance for 4x the price with a GoPro Hero Black edition, making this a much bigger bang for your buck. I would say its performance is comparable to somewhere between the Hero 1 and Hero 2/Hero 3 white version.
I made a video of a jump in my backyard recently that displays its performance in many different scenarios: in the case, out of the case, 1080 30fps, 720 30fps, 720 60fps, low light, sunny, timelapse, etc. Check it out if you want a decent idea of how well it performs.

Catbird

I have this Swann FreeStyle camera (a prior woot purchase) as well as a GoPro. Taking into account the GoPro's price for the camera plus the optional lcd attachment, I think the Swann is the better deal.

Be aware that the GoPro has noticeably better nighttime capabilities which may/may not be important to you.

Fardinando

davidwess wrote:Will this work as a car cam? I would like to mount it on my front windshield facing forward, (like the Russians did to get their great meteor shots).

I thought about this too. Looking at the manual, the unit shuts off when it fills up. It doesn't look like you can configure it to record a loop of the last "n" hours, which is what you want from a dash cam. If you want to remember to erase it and start it every time you get in the car, then I guess you could do that -- but you'll probably forget the one time something happens.

admrgd

davidkillion wrote:Obviously, the low-price and included LCD screen make this an incredible value. Unfortunately, I found this camera to be a big disappointment. First of all, the mount is different than the GoPro, so don't expect to use existing locations. Secondly, vibrations on this camera were not friendly (location: rear wing of a Skip Barber Formula Race Car) - there was a lot of noise on the video.

We travel long distances and spend lots of money for our passions. We have to hope that the cameras will capture our adventures, and in this case, all the video captured was not usable. I'm just glad I brought my old GoPro along as well.

Maybe more time with the camera would have resulted in better video; but I will never know because I am going to give it to my son so he can record his drumming.

Agreed. I bought one and filmed side-by-side with a GoPro and the footage was no where near as clear as the GoPro, contrast was lower also, poor black level.

hysonmb

This cam mounts perfectly fine with a GoPro suction cup mount. I haven't tried other mounts but I've had this stuck to various points on my car during track runs and it's solid.
We just did a run to a big meet-up yesterday and I had mine stuck to the windshield of the car. You'll want to edit the sound as you hear nothing but air for the most part while driving and there is a noise that sounds like feedback from the indicator light that gets captured in the video but for the price it's an excellent choice. This is not a final cut video but gives an idea of what the FreeStyle captures. I should have cleaned to housing first, normally video is a little better but this is close enough.

vpierce

I have a Swann that I bought a while ago. I've mostly used it on my motorcycle, and as such didn't expect the audio to be clear due to wind noise.

Here's a video I shot to compare wind noise. This is with the camera out of the waterproof case, with tape over the microphone and without tape: Microphone test

This is some video I shot on a couple of nice roads: Columbus Day weekendAt about 2:45 the vies switches from recording at 720p to 1080p, so you can see the difference in the wide angles at the two resolutions. (Entire video was converted to 720p for upload, though)

NOTE: Be sure to set Youtube to show them in 720p, so you can actually see what the video looks like.

As to mounting, if the plethora of included mounts don't satisfy your needs, there are dozens of options available. Both the camera and the case use a standard tripod screw mount. I have 4 handlebar mounts on my motorcycle (on various frame points) to put the camera in different positions.

Since my primary purpose for such a camera is to mount on my motorcycle for road trips, your notes were very helpful. The high pitch audio noise however was very annoying to me.
I have a couple of questions please. Have you found a way to remove that audio noise?
What handlebar mount(s) do you use?

3goldens

TheWidget

coryb13 wrote:I haven't seen this anywhere, and some google searching didn't readily find it, but does anyone know if this could go underwater maybe 40-50 feet for scuba diving?

From the Features tab...

Waterproof when housed in included case
Record in the rain, surf, snow, backyard pool or a multitude of conditions using the waterproof case included with the Swann Freestyle HD. The case is stylish and compact giving protection up to 65ft/25m so you can film in any conditions

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